Spring 2019 Newsletter

With spring upon us, OWB is gearing up for another busy and exciting year. We are looking forward to expanding our favorite neighborhood events and making progress on numerous community projects. Keep reading to see what’s going on in your neighborhood, and how you can get involved!

Download the full newsletter here.

Spring Cleanup

On Saturday, April 13th from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm neighborhood associations, faith communities, students, and businesses will work together across the West Bayfront to clean up the neighborhoods and get them ready for a beautiful spring. This is a great opportunity to serve your community and meet new neighbors. Please see the map above to find a meeting location convenient for you! Feel free to bring work gloves if you have them. Garbage bags and extra gloves will be provided. Meet up with neighbors at one of 5 locations across the West Bayfront.

Lights On OWB!

One of the easiest things residents can do to make the West Bayfront neighborhoods feel safer and more walkable in the evening is to leave an outside light on. Lights On Our West Bayfront seeks to improve safety and visibility in Erie’s West Bayfront by encouraging residents to leave an outdoor light on after dark.

In March, the West Bayfront Neighborhood Watch worked with Gannon University students to quantify the number of homes with outside lights on. 29% of homes left a light on. We can do better! Please leave an outdoor light on after dark. Contact us if you would like a free Lights On reminder magnet, and visit paenergykit.com if you would like a free energy kit.

The Awesome Foundation

Several West Bayfront residents have joined forces to create an OWB Chapter of The Awesome Foundation, a community movement that provides micro-grants of approximately $1,000 each to “awesome” projects that will make our community better. Once established, the Awesome Foundation will fund beautification projects, art installments, community events and more. The OWB Awesome Foundation will be funded by quarterly contributions of $100 from 10 or more residents who will work together to decide which projects to support.

Interested in becoming an Awesome Foundation Trustee and helping to make great projects happen in the OWB? Please contact Patrick Fisher at (907) 450-9114 or patrick@erieartsandculture.org.

Have a great idea that you’d like to implement in the OWB but need some funding help to make it happen? Keep your eye out – the OWB Awesome Foundation will begin accepting proposals later this spring!

Old Photos!

Do you have old photos of the West Bayfront? We would love to borrow them to scan and add to our files! Contact us if you have old photos to share with us.

Website Launch

We are excited to announce that the new OWB website has launched! Check it out to stay up to date on what is happening in Our West Bayfront. Thank you to our friends at WeCreate for your hard work in the creation of the new site!

Issues Impacting the West Bayfront

The PennDOT Bayfront Parkway Study and Project is underway. The purpose of the project is to improve the pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and passenger vehicle connection of the Erie Central Business District and adjacent neighborhoods to the waterfront property north of the Bayfront Parkway, to reduce crashes, and to improve future congestion, traffic operations and efficiency. A series of public meetings were held in the fall of 2018, including one at Emerson Gridley School. To stay up to date on the project please check the project website, bayfrontparkwayproject.com, and follow the Facebook page.

On March 20th, Erie City Council held a public hearing regarding the proposed rezoning of the three lots located on Cranberry and West 5th Street from the R3 (High Density Residential) to RLB (Residential Light Business) Zoning Classification. Full meeting minutes are available online at cityof.erie.pa.us.

Hold Erie Coke Accountable (HECA) is a “non-partisan citizen and community initiative, inspired by the civic resolve that Erie’s rise as a leading 21st Century city of choice rides on high quality of life and a healthy environment, requiring that Erie Coke cease violating its air quality emissions permit and stop contributing to foul-smelling air in our community.” The initiative urges those that see off-color smoke emissions, smell noxious odors, observe black soot, tar pollution to submit a complaint to the Department of Environmental Protection at (814) 332-6945.